HRANA – Milad Armoun, Navid Najaran, Mehdi Imani, and Seyed Mohammad-Mehdi Hosseini, defendants in the so-called “Ekbatan Town” case and detainees from the 2022 nationwide protests, were sentenced to death by the Tehran Revolutionary Court on charges of “enmity against God” (moharebeh). Amir Mohammad Khosh-Eghbal, Alireza Bormarz Pournak, Alireza Kafaei, and Hossein Nemati, other defendants in the case, were each sentenced to seven years in prison along with additional punishments. Another part of this case had previously been reviewed in criminal court and recently resulted in prison sentences and the payment of blood money (diyeh) for some of the defendants.
According to HRANA, eight defendants in the Ekbatan case were sentenced by the Revolutionary Court. Based on a ruling issued by Branch 15 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Abolghasem Salavati, Milad Armoun, Navid Najaran, Mehdi Imani, and Seyed Mohammadmehdi Hosseini were sentenced to death on charges of “enmity against God” (moharebeh). In addition, Amir Mohammad Khosh-Eghbal, Alireza Bormarz Pournak, Alireza Kafaei, and Hossein Nemati were each sentenced to five years in prison on charges of “assembly and collusion against national security”, two years for “propaganda against the regime,” a two-year ban on online activities, and a two-year residency ban from Tehran and Alborz provinces.
A source familiar with the case told HRANA that the verdict was verbally communicated to the defendants yesterday without the presence or prior notification of their lawyers. According to the source, the ruling has still not been officially served to the defense attorneys, effectively depriving them of the opportunity to file appeals.
Background:
At the beginning of November 2022, during the nationwide protests and following the killing of a Basij force member named Arman Aliverdi in Ekbatan Township, at least 50 young residents of Ekbatan Township were arrested by security and law enforcement forces. Indictments were ultimately issued against 14 of them.
The case was reportedly divided into two sections. One section was referred to Branch 15 of Tehran Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Abolqasem Salavati, and the other to Branch 13 of Tehran Criminal Court One. So far, no verdict has been issued for those defendants whose cases in the Revolutionary Court involve security-related charges and moharebeh.”
In May 2023, the spokesperson for Iran’s Judiciary announced that three defendants in the “murder of Arman Aliverdi” case had been charged with “enmity against God (moharebeh) through the use of cold weapons and acting against national security.” According to the indictment, these individuals were charged with “moharebeh,” “participation in intentional murder,” and “disrupting public order and peace.”
In late October 2023, after four court sessions were held, the court did not return the case to the prosecutor’s office for further investigation. Instead, Branch 13 of Tehran Criminal Court One intervened to conduct supplementary investigations, expedite proceedings, and determine the defendants’ status. Another part of the case was referred to Branch 15 of Tehran Revolutionary Court.
Further, Four of the defendants , Nemati, Barmarz Pournak, Kafaei, and Khosh-Eghbal, were released from Ghezel Hesar Prison on bail in February 2024.
The case involving Milad Armoun, Seyed Mohammad Mehdi Hosseini, Mehdi Imani, and Navid Najjaran, designated as confidential, had been returned in late April 2024 from Branch 13 of Tehran Province Criminal Court One to Branch 4 of the Prosecutor’s Office for Criminal Affairs in Tehran’s District 27 to address deficiencies in the case. In early September that year, after the deficiencies were addressed, the case was referred back to Branch 13 of Tehran Criminal Court One and Branch 15 of Tehran Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Abolqasem Salavati.
In November 2024, these individuals had each been sentenced to death by Branch 13 of Tehran Criminal Court. In September 2025, the Supreme Court overturned the death sentences and referred the case back to Branch 13 for retrial. Ultimately, on December 3 of that year, a new hearing was held in the same branch.
Following the overturning of the death sentences of six defendants in this case by the Supreme Court and the retrial in a parallel branch, new verdicts were recently issued by Branch 13 of Tehran Province Criminal Court One. According to the ruling, Milad Armoun, Alireza Kafaei, and Amir Mohammad Khosh-Eghbal were each sentenced to pay an equal share of the full blood money for one person and to serve five years in prison on charges of participation in intentional murder. Meanwhile, Alireza Barmarz Pournak, Hossein Nemati, and Navid Najaran, the three other defendants in the case, were acquitted of participation in intentional murder due to the lack of evidence showing they had inflicted blows on a specific part of Arman Aliverdi’s body.
